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Jonathan "Jack" Donahue Bristow was the father of Sydney Bristow and a fellow double agent for the CIA at SD-6. He assisted his daughter in bringing down the criminal organization and assisted the CIA at their base of operations in Los Angeles thereafter. He was recruited to APO, a black ops division of the CIA, by former superior at SD-6 Arvin Sloane, who ultimately betrayed the U.S. government in pursuit of the findings of Milo Rambaldi. Jack was left in charge of APO after this.

In a final effort to stop Sloane, Jack sacrificed his own life to trap an immortalized Sloane in a cave for the rest of eternity.

Early life

SD-6

Jack kept his affiliation with SD-6 a secret from Sydney, who also worked there. His cover was that he worked in supplying airplane parts. Jack was one of the few people working at SD-6 who knew its true allegiance; that it was a branch of the Alliance of Twelve, and he was working with the real CIA against SD-6 (Truth Be Told).

Working as a CIA mole in SD-6

Season 1

Jack was informed that Sydney had told Danny that she worked for SD-6, and so he was tasked with killing Danny to prevent a leak of information regarding their agency. After Danny's death, Sydney attended the funeral and Jack observed from his car. He then found out that Sydney was being targeted by Sloane because she was a potential threat and managed to save her from some attacking agents. He explained that he also worked for SD-6, and said that SD-6 was part of the Alliance of Twelve, a criminal organization, and not the CIA as she had been led to believe. He tried to get to Switzerland, but she refused and ran away. He later went and told her that her request to be a double agent for the CIA had been approved, and informed her that he was also one working against SD-6 (Truth Be Told).

Sydney met with her father at SD-6, who said that it would facilitate their plan if Sloane knew that she knew that Jack worked at SD-6. Sydney asked if he knew that they were going to kill Danny. He said that he did, and she slapped him. Sydney told him never to speak to her again, then left. He later told her that he booked a flight for Danny to go to Singapore but he arrived too late; he had already been killed. Jack told Sloane that Sydney had gone away for a few days, when in fact she had gone to get a nuclear weapon back that SD-6 had sold to terrorists (So It Begins).

Sydney approached Jack unannounced and asked him about the many questions she had regarding the past. However, Jack was reluctant to answer and irritated that she had approached him unheralded. Later, Marshall was unable to open a locked case containing a rare Rambaldi sketch, and so Jack was called in to assist. Jack contacted K-Directorate, who was in possession of the key that opened the case, and offered to meet at a neutral location and the two agencies to open the box together. Sydney dismissed the idea but Sloane said that K-Directorate did not know that there was another half to the code that SD-6 already had, so they had nothing to lose by showing the enemy this half. Sloane left and Sydney asked Jack one more time; did her mother know that he was with the CIA? He said that she did, and there was no secrets between the two of them. However, Sloane later asked Jack if he told Sydney the truth about her mother's death, and Jack shook his head (Parity).

Season 2

Working at the CIA

Season 2

Season 3

Working for APO

Season 4

Season 5

Relationships

Laura Bristow (aka Irina Derevko)
Jack fully believed Derevko's cover as Laura Bristow, his wife. He told her about his job with the CIA, which is not recommended for agents. When the APO team tricked Jack into believing he was in 1981 during the later stages of his radiation poisoning, Jack confessed his deep love for her (Mirage).

Sydney Bristow
Although Jack did not give Sydney the greatest childhood, he was deeply protective and proud of her. He worked hard for the CIA but regretted missing important events in her life, such as her birthday. He even went so far as to decide to leave the CIA so he would be around more for her childhood (Mirage).

Arvin Sloane

Others

Quotes

Jack Bristow: Sometimes a satisfying lie, Sydney, can do more good than the awful truth. (The Awful Truth).